Hello! Welcome to Retro Rank Rhapsody!
Most Recent Episode:
Retro Rank Rhapsody Ep# 20 - Some Debts Repaid
Games Covered:
- Soul of the Samurai (PSX)
- Jersey Devil (PSX)
I owe playing two games to some of my most dedicated supporters so I’m going to give them the Retro Rank Rhapsody treatment. Soul of the Samurai is a 3D brawler with some RPG elements while Jersey Devil is a 3D platformer as well as a terrible, no good, very bad game.
Episode Archive
01 - Rhapsody In New (Part I)
02 - Only Trust Your Fists
03 - Rhapsody In New (Part II)
04 - Saturday Morning’s Alright For Fighting
05 - Rhapsody In New (Part III)
06 - Legend of the ANIMEPUNCHER
07 - Rhapsody In New (Part IV)
08 - A Mental Sucker Punchj
09 - The Hyrule Fantasy Begins
10 - A Night At The Namco Museum
11 - A Norfair and Brinstarry Night for Tourian Zebes
12 - Eating Your Way To Victory
13 - I Just Can’t Wait to be King!
Retro Rank Rhapsody? What’s this about?
I’ve always had a fondness for the older eras of gaming and games that have been made to emulate those eras. I also have a fondness for showing off more obscure games that not a whole lot of people know about. This project is a mashup of those two loves combined with my previous project, Ranking of Shmups. Ranking of Shmups was a project to take a look at a genre of games that I love while also seeing which of those games stood the test of time. From what I’ve learned over doing that for a year, I was able to refine the concept into this, which is basically like an LP version of one of those sampler platter things that restaurants sometimes have.
So is this just about making a Top X list of games?
Not necessarily. The ranking part of this project is a big component, but it’s not the only thing. This series is also a chance to take a look and celebrate games that people might not have ever heard of or commend aspects of games that might not be looked at in as much detail. I will also be looking at grading other concepts from the game such as craftsmanship or world-building as well as noting elements of the game that people might want to know about the game such as difficulty or if there is anything that might put off a person from playing it.
And you are keeping track of this somewhere?
Is there a specific thing you are looking for when ranking games?
Well, not exactly. I would say that “perceived quality” is my general stick for ranking, but the question I generally ask when ranking a game is “Would I enjoy playing X over Y?” I will occasionally use other metrics to help with ranking like if I can tell a game was designed to pander to a specific audience, it’s likely going to go lower on the list than if it did not have those elements.
So this list is basically fueled by your own tastes?
I mean, any list like this is going to have the author’s influence onto it, but trying to divorce my own tastes from a game’s ranking is why I like to have multiple people around when I record these. I try to make sure that mine is not the only voice that motivates a game’s ranking and I’m perfectly fine with being outvoted. I want this to be helpful for other people more than it being a reflection of me.
Wow, this game is low on the list. That means it must be bad right?
Wrong. The way that I look at it is that if a game is ranked low, it means that it is less likely to be enjoyable than a game that is ranked higher. During Ranking of Shmups, older games such as Galaga or Xevious were ranked considerably lower than other games even though they aren’t bad games, just old. I put in an Age rating per game to help highlight that even though a game is ranked low, it’s age might have caused it to be ranked lower due to simplicity of games of the era or something like that.
So what other ratings do you have other than just the game’s rank?
Additional Ratings Details
- Tone - What is the game’s general mood? Is it a cute game or a spooky game?
- Content - If there is something that a player could potentially be bothered by, I’ll make a note of it such as if a game contains flashing or flickering on the screen for photosenstive folks or if a game contains problematic character designs or language
- OST - How good is the soundtrack? A game’s soundtrack can greatly enhance or detriment the experience of playing a game.
- World - How good is the plot/character design/world-building? Well-designed characters and
- Craft - How good does this game mechanically feel and how much effort did the developers put into the gameplay details?
- Impact - How much of an impact did this game make in gaming history?
- Age - How much has this game aged?
- Touch - How hard would it be for someone new to playing games to get into this game?
If you are looking for something specific out of a game, pop a fiter and look it will be easier to find what you are looking for.
Isn’t it a bit confusing to compare games when ranking that have very little to do to each other?
Yes, that’s why rather than just have one big list, I have several lists. Originally, I was planning on doing lists based on genres, but then I realized that that could get very complicated very quickly. I then had the idea to divide the lists by gameplay ideas named after stats and other terms related to RPGs. The lists are as follows
Category List
- ATK - Attack - Be quick and nimble as one wrong move and you’re dead
- RES - Resistance - Only with strength and perseverance will you get to the goal
- DEX - Dexterity - Precision and finesse are the keys to victory
- WIS - Wisdom - Without good planning and logic, failure is certain
- INT - Intellect - Knowledge is power
- CHR - Charisma - Better not drop that combo, chump
- LCK - Luck - Better not be on the wrong side of Lady Luck
- ADP - Adaptation - I reject your reality and substitute my own
- ADV - Adventure - Satisfy your wanderlust and do some exploring
- DLV - Delve - Success is only found at the heart of the beast’s lair
- EXP - Experience - It’s not about the finale, it’s about the journey
- PLN - Planning - Evaluate. Evolve. Expand. Explore. Exploit. Exterminate.
A more detailed explanation of what’s captured in each list can be found at the list itself under the “Category Guide” tab.
How much of a game do you need to play in order to rank it?
I don’t play through every game I rank to its entirety, but I do play enough to show of a good majority of its content. I do make sure to do the research on a game beforehand to make sure I can tall when I’ve shown of most of what a game has to offer. If a game is short enough, I do usually show off 1 or 2 games in its entirety per stream.
What is your definition of “Retro”?
Bascially a game must fit one of these criteria:
The game must have either…
- Originated on a video game console of the 5th generation or prior (with exception to Arcade and Dreamcast)
- Sequel to a game that has been ranked
- Explicitly goes for an aesthetic that mimics “Retro”
- Be of a genre that is on the list of pre-approved genre list (This is found on the list itself under “Category Guide”)
How is each episode recorded?
I record the footage for each episode from a stream archive. They are more prepared than “Oh hey, I’m just going to pop this game on and dick around with it” as I plan each episode weeks in advance. The live nature of a stream also provides a more accurate experience of playing a game as I will repeatedly fail at things and it won’t be a perfect run. Also, my chat does sometimes bring up details that I might forget and there shouldn’t be that many distracting elements.
If you do want to watch the footage of each episode be recorded live, you can go to my Twitch page at twitch.tv/lolodepuzlo. My current recording schedule is:
- Fridays at 9PM EST
- Saturdays at 3PM EST
Is there an easy way I can keep up to date with when you go live if for some reason I can’t access this site?
Yes! There are two easy ways.
- Follow me on Twitter @LoloDePuzlo
- Join the Discord group by going to http://discord.ldp.life
Season 0 - Ranking of Shmups
Here is the series of streams that I did that spawned this series.
